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Kevin Pickell was the Lead Programmer and creator of Stunts. The community managed to find contact to him, and in 2003 we organized an e-mail interview. You can find his answers here:
''Kevin Pickell'' (also credited as Kevin P. Pickell) is a Canadian video game programmer best known as the lead programmer of ''[[Stunts (video game)|Stunts]]'' (1990, also known as ''4D Sports Driving'') at Distinctive Software. Earlier he worked on the ''Test Drive'' series, and later contributed core technology and audio drivers to multiple Electronic Arts titles, including ''FIFA International Soccer'' (1993) and the Sega Genesis title ''Skitchin'' (1994).


== Career ==
Pickell joined Vancouver-based developer Distinctive Software (DSI) in the mid-1980s and is credited on early racing titles including ''Test Drive'' (1987) and ''The Duel: Test Drive II'' (1989). See [https://www.mobygames.com/person/971/kevin-p-pickell/ MobyGames – Kevin P. Pickell] and the game pages for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Drive_(1987_video_game) ''Test Drive''] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duel:_Test_Drive_II ''The Duel: Test Drive II''].


'''Whose idea was the game concept?'''
In 1990 he served as programmer and co-designer on ''[[Stunts (video game)|Stunts]]'' at DSI (published in North America by Brøderbund). Contemporary manuals and credits list him as programmer, and later interviews with the Stunts community describe him as the lead programmer on the project. See [https://www.mobygames.com/game/329/stunts/ MobyGames – ''Stunts''] and an interview: [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts ZakStunts – Interview with Kevin Pickell].


I don't really remember but it started out as a demolition derby game but changed early on. I think it was a combination of Don Mattrick, Rob Martin, myself and a few others.
Following Electronic Arts’ acquisition of DSI (EA Canada), Pickell worked across multiple EA projects through the 1990s and early 2000s. On Sega Genesis he helped build a multi-sample sound driver used in several EA titles and contributed programming and “sound technology” to ''FIFA International Soccer'' (1993). See [https://segaretro.org/FIFA_International_Soccer SegaRetro – ''FIFA International Soccer''] and [https://www.mobygames.com/game/2078/fifa-international-soccer/credits/genesis/ MobyGames – FIFA (Genesis) credits].


From the early 2010s he worked in Vancouver’s AAA scene (including Capcom Vancouver), before retiring from professional game development in 2016. See [https://www.choicestgames.com/2015/05/where-are-they-now-kevin-pickell.html ChoicestGames profile] and [https://www.facebook.com/KPexEA/ personal page note].


'''Was creating Stunts a big challenge for you?'''
== Stunts (1990) ==
Community discussions and a 2003 Q&A with Pickell cover multiple aspects of ''Stunts'' development:
* '''Single-programmer core''': Pickell stated he was the only programmer, creating many track pieces with a simple in-house 3D model editor before an artist joined. See [https://stunts.hu/stuntsrus/sensationkevin.htm Stunts.hu – “Sensation! Kevin is around us”] and [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts ZakStunts interview].
* '''Physics and quirks''': He confirmed famous “bugs” (e.g., sixth-gear behaviour, mid-air braking and collision oddities) were known and in some cases left as-is because they made the game more fun. See [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts interview].
* '''Average-speed math''': Track length for average speed uses the '''centerline of the track pieces''' rather than assuming racing lines. See Q22 in the [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts interview].
* '''Rendering''' and tools: polygon rendering in assembly with higher-level code in C; the track editor began as an internal tool and became a key feature. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunts_%28video_game%29 ''Stunts'' article] and the [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts interview].


It was very challenging as at that time my math skills were very weak. I was just learning 3d graphics and it was my first time using matrix math.
== Other work ==
Beyond racing games, Pickell contributed to audio tech and platform support across EA titles in the 1990s, with credits on ''NBA Live 95'' (Genesis) and others; he also mentions ''Skitchin''' (1994) as a project whose sound impressed players. See [https://www.mobygames.com/person/971/kevin-p-pickell/credits/ MobyGames – credits by role] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skitchin%27 ''Skitchin''' (background)].


== Interests ==


'''How did Stunts's success change your life?'''
A [http://scale18.com/cgi-bin/page/kpickell.html porsche owner] (formerly a 911 cabrio) he owns a porsche 911 turbo and [http://scale18.com/ a 1/18 car model enthusiast sharing his passion on his website]


It actually was not very financially successful. Test Drive the game done before it was much more successful and that is why it was sequeled and Stunts was not.
== Selected credits ==
* ''Test Drive'' (1987) — Programmer. See [https://www.mobygames.com/game/329/stunts/ MobyGames – game pages] and [https://tcrf.net/Test_Drive_%28Commodore_64%29 TCRF note on C64 developer message].
* ''The Duel: Test Drive II'' (1989) — Programmer. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duel:_Test_Drive_II game page].
* ''Stunts / 4D Sports Driving'' (1990) — Lead programmer; design contributions. See [https://www.mobygames.com/game/329/stunts/ MobyGames] and [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts interview].
* ''FIFA International Soccer'' (1993, Genesis) — Programming, sound technology. See [https://segaretro.org/FIFA_International_Soccer SegaRetro] and [https://www.mobygames.com/game/2078/fifa-international-soccer/credits/genesis/ MobyGames credits].
* ''Skitchin''' (1994, Genesis) — Sound driver / additional programming (audio tech). See [https://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Kevin_Pickell VGMPF profile] and [https://www.mobygames.com/person/971/kevin-p-pickell/credits/ MobyGames].


== See also ==
* [[Stunts (video game)]]
* [[Electronic Arts]]
* [[Distinctive Software]]
* [[FIFA International Soccer]]


'''What games did you create after Stunts, which is your favourite?'''
== Sources ==
* ZakStunts — Interview with Kevin Pickell (2003): [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts link].
* Stunts.hu — “Sensation! Kevin is around us” (2003): [https://stunts.hu/stuntsrus/sensationkevin.htm link].
* MobyGames — ''Stunts'' page (credits): [https://www.mobygames.com/game/329/stunts/ link].
* Stunts (Wikipedia) — development section (Pickell’s role): [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunts_%28video_game%29 link].
* SegaRetro — ''FIFA International Soccer'' (Genesis credits): [https://segaretro.org/FIFA_International_Soccer link].
* MobyGames — FIFA (Genesis) credits: [https://www.mobygames.com/game/2078/fifa-international-soccer/credits/genesis/ link].
* VGMPF — Kevin Pickell (Genesis sound driver/tech): [https://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Kevin_Pickell link].
* TCRF — ''Test Drive'' (C64) developer message naming Kevin P. Pickell: [https://tcrf.net/Test_Drive_%28Commodore_64%29 link].
* ChoicestGames — “Where are they now? Kevin Pickell” (Capcom Vancouver mention): [https://www.choicestgames.com/2015/05/where-are-they-now-kevin-pickell.html link].
* Public page — personal note on retirement: [https://www.facebook.com/KPexEA/ link].


Fifa International Soccer was my favorite after that, it was created by Jan Tian, Brian Plank and myself and has gone on to be one of the all time best selling games ever. Technically speaking the code I am most proud of is in a game called Skitchin on the Sega Genesis. Up until Skitchin, the music on the Genesis was very plain and boring, I figured out a way to make music with multiple digital samples play at the same time. Sound like that is very common today but when Skitchin came out the music blew people away. The game itself was not very good but the sound rocked!
== External links ==
 
* [https://www.mobygames.com/person/971/kevin-p-pickell/ Kevin P. Pickell — MobyGames]
 
* [https://zak.stunts.hu/articles/interview-with-kevin-pickell-lead-programmer-of-stunts Interview – ZakStunts]
'''How did you imagine that the game would be played? (alone, torunaments, hunting records, with friends, etc?)
* [https://stunts.hu/stuntsrus/sensationkevin.htm Early community interview (Stunts.hu)]
'''
 
I never really thought about it. I thought that the best part of Stunts as not driving around but creating your own custom tracks.
 
 
'''Did you expect Stunts to be played after 13 years of the creation?
'''
 
Never.
 
 
'''Any funny stories about the creation of Stunts?
'''
 
Not that I can think of, it was a very long time ago.
 
 
'''Why are there so many versions (Broderbund 1.0 and 1.1, Mindscape 1.1)?
'''
 
Is there a version above Stunts 1.1? Broderbund only had distribution in the USA so DSI was free to find other publishers in other countries. The change to version 1.1 was probably just a bug fix but frankly I don't remember what the change was. Did you know it was Also released in Japan called 4D Driving, published by EA for the PC-9801, some sort of it was ported to Japanese by Ray Nakazato.
 
 
'''What can you tell us about the Amiga port of Stunts? I have it, but have never played, but heard it's not as good as on PC.'''
 
The graphics are not as good as on the PC but it should play exactly the same as the PC version.
 
 
'''What do you think of the fan-made sequel projects and utilities? (like Track Blaster where you can build track on water, Car Blaster, where you can change any performance of the cars, Stunt Mania http://www.megaone.com/stuntmania/ and Ultimate Stunts http://ultimatestunts.sourceforge.net/ )
'''
 
I am not familiar with any of them.
 
 
'''When did you last played Stunts? Which is your favourite car & track in the game?
'''
 
I last played it back in about 1995. My favorite car is the Porsche 962, I don't remember much about the different tracks that came with it.
 
 
'''Why is there no Otto's track? All the other opponents have one.
'''
 
I don't know, we probably ran out of time.
 
 
'''We already know about who the opponents are in real life. Why are them so weak and dumb in the game?
'''
 
They wanted them to be vastly different, originally they were only slightly dumber and slower but the company wanted to make them more different and the only way was to make them even slower and dumber.
 
 
'''Was multiplayer feature planned? Why isn't hotseat or serial cable game implemented? There were games in 1990 which supported it.
'''
 
It was not planned as at the time we figured that such a feature would not give us any more sales and therefore it was not worth our time to implement.
 
 
'''Why are so many things prohibited in the terrain editor?
'''
 
Probably because it would make the opponents crash every time, I think that was the reason.
 
 
'''Are there any possible hidden parts or command-line switchs beside the terrain editor accessible with Shift+F1?
'''
 
Not that I remember.
 
 
'''Why these cars are in the game, who choose them?
'''
 
I remember us having trouble finding stats for cars and finding good front and side pictures that we could use to make the 3d models. I think that was one of the deciding factors on the final list of cars.
 
 
'''Is the 6th gear (for example with the Porsche March Indy, when jumping in the 5th gear, your speed is maximalized, and you can keep it on grass too) a feature or a bug? We are very curious about this one, it makes the game a lot more intresting :)
'''
 
A bug.
 
 
'''Why is it that sometimes when hitting a jump you fly way up in the sky?
'''
 
That is a bug in the car/ground collision code.
 
 
 
'''Was it hard to program that you can skid in the air with your car? It's just awesome, no other games from this era can do this. Also it's incredible how fast the 3d engine is. Was it done in assembly, C, or some other language?
'''
 
The skidding code was actually easy, the hard part was making it so the skid happened gradually and the user could try and stop it from happening. The polygon rendering is done in assembly, all code above that layer is done in C.
 
 
'''Did you know when releasing the game that you can pass through obstacles like block house and slalom block when hitting them perpendicular? Is it a bug with the collision checking routine?
'''
 
It is a bug.
 
 
'''How does the program calculate the length of the track (for average speed) and car speed?
'''
 
I think it is the centerline for the track pieces, it doesn't assume that you apex the corners.
 
 
'''Is it possible to add any new carshapes or dashboards to the game?
'''
 
I don't know, they were probably compressed using in-house tools and I don't remember what formats we used.
 
 
'''The racing community biggest problem is that you can continue a replay when rewinding back (it warns you its not valid, but you can make it valid when saving before the finish line and continueing from its end, and finish.) is there any possible method to prevent this? Like the program wouldn't allow saving replay until you've finsihed, or it could store the "continued" status in a separate byte.
'''
 
It could be fixed but I don't have the source code anymore and regardless even if a not valid flag was added I'm sure someone could load the replay into and edit and change it back.
 
 
'''Do you still have the sources of stunts? Have you planned making it GPL for the community? So we could add more cars, maybe track elements, and possibly solve replay continuing problem.
'''
 
I don't have the source and frankly in what I have learned over the years I would rewrite it from scratch anyway. It was pretty inefficient looking back on it.
 
 
'''What do you think, when will be the last date when people play Stunts?
'''
 
When someone finally does a better one on current hardware.


[[Category:Game]]
[[Category:Game]]

Latest revision as of 04:31, 17 August 2025

Kevin Pickell (also credited as Kevin P. Pickell) is a Canadian video game programmer best known as the lead programmer of Stunts (1990, also known as 4D Sports Driving) at Distinctive Software. Earlier he worked on the Test Drive series, and later contributed core technology and audio drivers to multiple Electronic Arts titles, including FIFA International Soccer (1993) and the Sega Genesis title Skitchin (1994).

Career

Pickell joined Vancouver-based developer Distinctive Software (DSI) in the mid-1980s and is credited on early racing titles including Test Drive (1987) and The Duel: Test Drive II (1989). See MobyGames – Kevin P. Pickell and the game pages for Test Drive and The Duel: Test Drive II.

In 1990 he served as programmer and co-designer on Stunts at DSI (published in North America by Brøderbund). Contemporary manuals and credits list him as programmer, and later interviews with the Stunts community describe him as the lead programmer on the project. See MobyGames – Stunts and an interview: ZakStunts – Interview with Kevin Pickell.

Following Electronic Arts’ acquisition of DSI (EA Canada), Pickell worked across multiple EA projects through the 1990s and early 2000s. On Sega Genesis he helped build a multi-sample sound driver used in several EA titles and contributed programming and “sound technology” to FIFA International Soccer (1993). See SegaRetro – FIFA International Soccer and MobyGames – FIFA (Genesis) credits.

From the early 2010s he worked in Vancouver’s AAA scene (including Capcom Vancouver), before retiring from professional game development in 2016. See ChoicestGames profile and personal page note.

Stunts (1990)

Community discussions and a 2003 Q&A with Pickell cover multiple aspects of Stunts development:

  • Single-programmer core: Pickell stated he was the only programmer, creating many track pieces with a simple in-house 3D model editor before an artist joined. See Stunts.hu – “Sensation! Kevin is around us” and ZakStunts interview.
  • Physics and quirks: He confirmed famous “bugs” (e.g., sixth-gear behaviour, mid-air braking and collision oddities) were known and in some cases left as-is because they made the game more fun. See interview.
  • Average-speed math: Track length for average speed uses the centerline of the track pieces rather than assuming racing lines. See Q22 in the interview.
  • Rendering and tools: polygon rendering in assembly with higher-level code in C; the track editor began as an internal tool and became a key feature. See Stunts article and the interview.

Other work

Beyond racing games, Pickell contributed to audio tech and platform support across EA titles in the 1990s, with credits on NBA Live 95 (Genesis) and others; he also mentions Skitchin (1994) as a project whose sound impressed players. See MobyGames – credits by role and Skitchin (background).

Interests

A porsche owner (formerly a 911 cabrio) he owns a porsche 911 turbo and a 1/18 car model enthusiast sharing his passion on his website

Selected credits

See also

Sources

  • ZakStunts — Interview with Kevin Pickell (2003): link.
  • Stunts.hu — “Sensation! Kevin is around us” (2003): link.
  • MobyGames — Stunts page (credits): link.
  • Stunts (Wikipedia) — development section (Pickell’s role): link.
  • SegaRetro — FIFA International Soccer (Genesis credits): link.
  • MobyGames — FIFA (Genesis) credits: link.
  • VGMPF — Kevin Pickell (Genesis sound driver/tech): link.
  • TCRF — Test Drive (C64) developer message naming Kevin P. Pickell: link.
  • ChoicestGames — “Where are they now? Kevin Pickell” (Capcom Vancouver mention): link.
  • Public page — personal note on retirement: link.

External links

Retrieved from "https://wiki.stunts.hu/index.php?title=Kevin_Pickell&oldid=6702"